1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method of improving the carbonatation clarification of sugar liquors and syrups, offering compositions of matter and processes incorporating the same.
2. Related Art
Industry standards in the clarification of sugar liquors and syrups include a phosphatation or carbonatation process (Cane Sugar Handbook, 12th Ed., pgs. 454-455). In the carbonatation clarification process, lime and carbon dioxide are added to the sugar liquors or syrups, to form a calcium carbonate crystalline solid. The formation of the calcium carbonate entraps impurities within and around the crystalline matrix, and the thus-treated liquor is passed through a filtration process to remove the calcium carbonate and the impurities removed therein. The calcium carbonate crystals also act as a filter aid, thus removing additional impurities through physical filtration means as the calcium carbonate crystals accumulate on the filters. Polymer coagulants, such as those exemplified by quaternary ammonium coagulants, may be beneficially added to enhance the color removal of the carbonatation process (Cane Sugar Handbook, 12th Ed., pgs. 455).
More recent processes for sugar liquor and syrup clarification include those exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,279 to Gil et al. This patent describes a process for producing refined sugar from raw sugar juices. The process includes adding a flocculent for treating raw sugar juice, wherein the flocculent is selected from the group of lime, a source of phosphate ions, polyelectrolyte, and combinations thereof. The thus treated juice is concentrated by evaporation to form a syrup, with a subsequent treatment by flocculent, then filtered, and then decolorized and de-ashed using ion-exchange resin.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,340, Cartier claims a process for purifying impure sugar solutions, including simultaneous decolorization and clarification, comprising contacting the impure sugar solutions with submicroscopic ion-exchange resin in the forms of approximately spherical beads, said ion-exchange resin having diameters from about 0.01 to 1.5 microns, followed by separation of this ion-exchange resin from the sugar solution. The ion-exchange resin particles may be separated in the form of a floc, wherein the floc may be formed either from impurities in the impure sugar solution, or by adding sufficient flocculating agent in the sugar solution to flocculate all of the resin particles.
Another example of more recently proposed sugar clarification includes that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,328 to Clarke et al, detailing a composition for the clarification of sugar bearing juices and related products. The composition comprises a dry, powdered admixture of aluminum chloride hydroxide, lime, and activated bentonite. The composition may also include a polymer flocculating agent, such as a polyacrylamide.